The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has told the Supreme Court that it will start publishing provisional answer keys for the Civil Services (Preliminary) exam and will review them before giving the final results. The decision comes after a writ petition by students who complained that UPSC has kept answer keys, cut‑off marks, and individual scores hidden and unsupervised. In its affidavit, the UPSC said that after consulting the Supreme Court’s amicus curiae, it has carefully considered how to improve transparency.
The new workflow has five steps. First, UPSC will release a provisional answer key after the preliminary exam is finished. Second, candidates who appear in the test can file objections. Each objection must be backed by three reliable sources; if the evidence is not strong the objection will be rejected right away. Third, a panel of subject experts will review the provisional key and the objections that have survived. Fourth, the experts will finalize the answer key; this final key will form the basis of the preliminary results. Fifth, after the official results are announced, UPSC will publish the final answer key.
The commission says it wants to start following this new procedure “as soon as possible” and believes it provides an effective remedy to the concerns raised in the petition. UPSC has asked the Supreme Court to approve its plan and dismiss the writ petition.
The petition, filed by lawyer Rajeev Kumar Dubey, accused UPSC of “dodging accountability” and of refusing to show why it is reluctant to share answer keys, cut‑off marks or candidate scores. Students and observers argued that most state public-service commissions, High Courts, and prestigious institutions such as IITs and IIMs routinely publish these details in a timely manner. UPSC’s new step‑by‑step process is designed to bring the commission in line with those transparent practices.
Stay informed on all the latest news, real-time breaking news updates, and follow all the important headlines in world News on Latest NewsX. Follow us on social media Facebook, Twitter(X), Gettr and subscribe our Youtube Channel.
